The present invention relates to an aluminosilicate. More specifically, the present invention relates to an aluminosilicate which can be used for detergent builders, oil-absorbing agents, polishing agents, scrubbing agent, adsorbents, filter media, fillers, or the like.
Since aluminosilicates have high stability and are inexpensive, they are widely used in such applications as detergent builders, polishing agents for toothpaste, fillers for paper, and adsorbents. A great majority of the aluminosilicates are zeolite based on Na2Oxe2x80x94SiO2xe2x80x94Al2O3. However, since the zeolite has the shape of sharp-edged cubes with smooth surfaces owing to the tendency to form cubic crystals, there is a problem in that it is likely to damage material upon polishing even though its polishing effect is high. In addition, when the zeolite is filled into a resin, or the like, the surface becomes slidable so that there is a problem in that the mechanical strength of the resin is lowered. Further, even when the zeolite is used for adsorbents, oil-absorbing agents, and the like, the void fraction of the particles themselves is small, so that there is a problem in that the aluminosilicate must be used in large amounts.
Recently, various processes have been proposed for solving the above problems. Japanese Patent No. 2,618,021 discloses a spherical zeolite powder. However, in this patent publication, although the zeolite powder has excellent dispersibility owing to its spherical shape, the zeolite powder has excellent surface slidability and small voids, so that it cannot suitably be used for fillers, adsorbents, or the like. In addition, Japanese Patent No. 2,555,475 discloses porous, inorganic microspheres. Even in this case, however, their surfaces are slidable, so that the microspheres cannot be suitably used for polishing agents, fillers, or the like.
Accordingly, in view of the problems in the prior art described above, an object of the present invention is to provide a porous aluminosilicate which is useful in a wide range of applications such as detergent builders, oil-absorbing agents, polishing agents, scrubbing agent, adsorbents, filter media, fillers, or the like having high polishing ability, low damage to the contacted material, excellent adsorption and dispersibility, and an increased mechanical strength of the filled material when used for fillers.
These and other objects of the present invention will be apparent from the following description.
In sum, the present invention pertains to an aluminosilicate in an acicular form, a platy form, or a columnar form and having the composition represented by:
aM2O.bAl2O3.cSiO2.dRmAn.yH2O,
wherein M is at least one of Na and K; R is one or more elements selected from the group consisting of Na, K, Ca and Mg; A is one or more members selected from the group consisting of CO3, SO4, NO3, OH and Cl; a is from 1 to 6; b is from 2 to 8; c is from 2 to 12; d is from 0 to 4; m is from 1 to 2; n is from 1 to 3; and y is from 0 to 32, and their use.